After Prednisone hump on back

Hi Layne, I have the pred hump and I'm self conscious about it.  I started out with 20mg of pred November '14.  I am now down to 3mg pred and even though I have lost 14lbs the hump is still there.

 I went for a back massage and I could feel this big lump of fat being pushed up everytime the lady massaged that area.  I felt really embarrassed and I didn't explain what it was either.  Like yourself I'm hoping for some answers.  Thanks in advance.

Hi Layne, I have this hump, too and I feel I look "deformed".  I HOPE as I am lowering my prednisone by 0.5 mg a month, my back will go back to "normal" --- if at all possible.  I am presently lowering from 6 1/2 mg.

I wonder, too why on earth this drug would cause a hump in this particular area.

Ye know what you mean I'm down to 6mg and no change in that hump, like what is it and as you say in that spot, my moon face hasn't gone down that much, I started off on well 20mg for PMR and then 80mg for GCA and then the fuzzy hair and half of it gone😂

I've been on & off prednisone (10 to 20mg at times up to 60mg), for the last 20 years, more on then off, due to other health issues than PMR. I developed the hump years ago and I hate to ruin your day, but no, it has never gone down, even when I've been off steroids. The only time it has bothered me, is when my dosage was increased to about 40mg or above. Yes, it is, noticeable, but after almost 20 years, I very seldom notice it or even think about it. "The Hump", is not even relevant compared to my many other health issues. You will learn, as times go by, to focus on what you can control, and ignore the little things you can't control; after all, you are still breathing, walking and feeling . Count your blessings, you wake up each morning to either the sun, clouds, rain or snow each day. Good luck to you, as you learn to live with PMR.

Hi Layne:  I developed a mild hump (atarted on 25 mg, down to 10 in 6 months, on that for over a year, then 6 months of 6-8 mg) with no tenderness in the spine.  The hump is essentially gone. The chipmunk cheeks persist just enough to flatten out my wrinkles, which is OK with me.

Like you, I find it a mystery that a drug can redistribute fat.  There are many factors that control how much fat you have, but I'd always thought "fat distribution sites" were genetic.  One typical pattern in women is abdominal fat, chubby cheeks, thin legs, and fat at the back of the neck (so-called "potato on a stick."  

I have always been pear-shaped, but on prednisone I have aquired some characteristics of that shape- fat on the back of the neck, on the face, and in the abdomen. Luckily, I have not gained weight, so this is my own normal fat moving around.  Very strange!

Is this true for those who have reduced enough for it to go down.

Trying to see if there is a correlation to that area now being tender.

Yes, that area was tender - not painful really but it wasn't pleasant to press on it!

Pred makes your body deposit fat in specific places - around your mid-riff, around your face and neck and the buffalo hump on the back of your neck. Exactly WHY I'm not sure - will have to investigate that!

I've got the hump, but I don't know that it hurts any more than the rest of me! lol